It Only Takes A Moment Sidestories From Part 8
by EmaniaHilel
Summary: [Sidestories] Did you, like Raven, wonder under what circumstances Robin saw Raven in all those pjs he mentioned seeing her in during Part VIII of It Only Takes A Moment? Well, Kysra did too. She drew it. So I just HAD to write it up. [COMPLETE]
1. Bunnies

**_A/N:_** For full explanation as to the naissance of these sidestories, please see my emsscraps journal, under the heading " Fanart: It Only Takes A Moment" posted on May 23rd, 2006. But, a short explanation is that these are based on one of **_Kysra_** (here at FFN and at dA where the picture is housed) aka **_GuardianKysra_** (on livejournal) did fanart for _It Only Takes A Moment_, and one of them in particular, the one for _Part VIII: Puppies, Penguins, and Bunnies_, inspired a series of sidestories, of which, this is the first.

I'll post one a day until I catch you all here on FFN up with what I've already posted on my emsscraps journal.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Teen Titans. I don't own the sketch which inspired this particular story, but I do own the story that prompted the sketch that inspired the story. (Heh, try and figure THAT out!) I also happen to own the pjs Rae's wearing. ((cheeky smile))

_**It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 1 (From Part VIII)  
**__**Bunnies  
**__**by Em**_

"_...the bunny ones..."_

The sight of Raven curled in one of the booths along their breakfast table, a book open on the table in front of her wasn't exactly a strange one. On the contrary, it was actually quite normal. It was, after all, her preferred position to be in while she waited for the water for her tea to boil.

It also wasn't strange that Robin be the one to see her in this position most often. After all, Robin was usually the first one to wake and the earliest to make it to the kitchen...that is, when Raven didn't beat him to it. And often, if she did, he would find her sitting in the booths with an open book in front of her while the kettle heated water on the stove.

So, when Robin entered the kitchen that morning, just as the sun crested the horizon and the light filtered through their enormous windows along the common room and crawled across the space toward the kitchen, it wasn't Raven's presence in the kitchen that made him do a double take.

No.

Rather, it was what she was wearing that stopped him halfway to the counter and nearly made him trip all over his own boots.

The fact that Raven didn't so much as offer a glance in his direction as he stumbled over himself in surprise could best be attributed to the fact that they all (or those who woke up early enough...namely, Raven) knew that Robin was pretty much useless for the first hour after waking up or until after his first cup of coffee, whichever came first.

Remembering this fact himself, Robin was halfway to convincing himself that he _must_ be seeing things by the time he had his first sip of coffee and had sat down in the booth across from her. From this distance, and with the life-giving caffeine starting to run its course through his system, Robin could no longer deny it.

Raven was, in fact, wearing a pajama set.

And not just any pajama set.

A long-sleeved-button -down -top -and -matching -long -pants-flannel-esque-light-pink-background-with-cute-little-pastel-colored-bunnies-frolicking-_all_-over pajama set.

Bunnies.

Frolicking.

_Frolicking_!

He must be dreaming, he decided.

He wasn't sure whether it would be a nightmare or not, but it _must_ be a dream. Raven wouldn't be caught dead in that kind of pajama set in real life.

He watched her get up, pour herself a cup of hot water, prepare her tea, and re-seat herself across from him in the booth all with an air of astonished bewilderment, but she must have been as asleep as he was, because she never once even acknowledged his presence.

Then again, he hadn't finished his coffee yet.

However, by the time he had finished his first cup of coffee, Raven was still nursing her tea and still reading and _still_ wearing pink bunny pjs.

"Raven?" he called into the silence of the early morning kitchen.

Raven looked up at him, "Yes?" she asked.

"Am I asleep?" he asked.

She sighed, "Have another cup of coffee," she told him, returning to the pages of her book.

'No,' Robin decided. 'Definitely _not_ a dream...'

"Raven?" he asked again.

Raven stopped reading for a moment, before she looked up and met his gaze across the table, "Yes, Robin?"

He pondered on how to ask her about the pjs, but in the end, decided he didn't really have to know. At least, not badly enough that he'd try asking her about it in the morning before she'd finished her tea. "Nothing."

Raven sighed and looked back at her book, "This _must_ be Monday," she mumbled.

Robin nodded, deciding to take her advice and get a second cup of coffee only to end up making a whole new pot on further consideration. After all, if Raven really was wearing pink bunny pjs outside of her room and hell hadn't frozen over or the apocalypse hadn't come, then it was only a matter of time until _one_ of those things happened, and he'd certainly need as much caffeine in his system for that as he could get.


	2. Penguins

**A/N**: See SideStory #1 for full Notes and explanation.

Based on **_Kysra_**'s sketch to be found here: www . deviantart . com / deviation / 33685488 / (remove spaces) -- Please remember to drop her a note and make her feel wonderful for having done this amazing thing for me?

**Thanks:** To everyone who reviewed, both here at ff.n and on my lj. I'm not going to reply individually here, since I want to post a new sidestory every day, it'll take too long to reply individually. If you want to ask me something in a review, go ahead, and I'll just reply individually to you. (Oh, and **_WAYYYY too lazy to log-in_**, I'm a girl.)

**Note:** Remember two things:

1. I've got the "Moment Poll" going on where you can vote for your favorite _Moment_ (from 1-11) www . freeblogpoll . com / view (underscore)poll . php ? poll (underscore)id (equals) 35116 (remove spaces and change 'underscore' and 'equals' to their actual symbols, sorry for the trouble, but swine ffn doesn't let me put it straight. If you can't find it, just go to my latest journal entry through my emsscraps journal and they'll be a direct link on the bottom of that) With 28 people having voted so far, it seems _Part 10: Looking at You_ is holding on to its lead, with _Part 4: Pasghetti_coming up second. (Which, frankly, was a surprise to me...) So, if you've got another favorite, make sure you vote and have your opinion be heard! (only one vote per person, please, no cheating.)

2. You can go onto my 'emsscraps', deviantArt, or 'emaniahilel' journals and ask me a question, any question, and I promise to answer. Some people have already asked me some pretty interesting questions! So, go ahead, join in. No limit to the # of questions you can ask. So go ahead, go wild, and keep my mind off my upcoming bar exam.

_**It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 2 (From Part VIII)  
**__**Penguins  
**__**by Em**_

"_...these penguin ones..."_

Raven didn't want to be putting away the dishes, that much was obvious. Robin had hoped, however, that she might take her assigned chore a bit more seriously.

No one would have looked at Raven with her hand raised in power, and the dishes and pans surrounded by black energy hanging in the air before her and said she was fooling around. Robin, however, knew better. He was tipped off as to her playful state of mind by the fact she was, one: barefoot, two: wearing cotton pajamas with what appeared to be little baby penguins dressed in scarves all over them, and three: that the dishes and pans were dancing in her energy rather than being systematically put away.

Robin turned back to his assigned task of washing the dishes in the sink and sighed, "Raven," he called blandly.

"Yes, Robin?" she asked calmly. Robin looked over his shoulder and stared at her back while the dish flew away with the spoon.

Robin withheld a smile and forced himself to turn back to his own task, "No powers to do chores, remember?" he said, sounding more like a stern but amused father than like a teenager.

Undeterred, (and straight faced, as usual) Raven made the flatware do a little jig with the ladle, "If my meditation and practice time is to be cut into by this menial task, I will do my utmost to use the time to my benefit."

Which Robin correctly translated to mean, _'You can't make me stop so, nyah'._

Robin sighed, "Then at least refrain from making a dinner service floor show and restrict your power use to putting them away?" he tried.

Raven rose her other hand and the dishes Robin had just washed rose from the dish-rack next to the sink in a cushion of black energy as a towel started drying them. "Why?" she asked.

"You remember what happened to the Sorcerer's Apprentice, don't you?" Robin asked watching in some awe as to her left the dishes were dried and before her, the dishes continued to dance and wiggle in patterns he couldn't grasp.

"I know no Sorcerer's Apprentice," she answered monotonously.

"Disney? Fantasia?" he asked.

The dried dishes flew to join the ones dancing before her as the ones that had been dancing levitated into the open cupboards were they came to a gentle rest among their kind. "I never saw it."

"Okay," Robin watched as she picked up more dripping dishes and set about drying them while the newly dried plates took up the dance where the recently put away plates had left off. It was actually quite amazing to see her wield such control over her powers. In battle, her power use was great, but it was usually quick and lacking in the kind of gentle grace she was showing here. His eyes took in the movements of the plates as if he were watching a ballet.

"What of this Sorcerer's Apprentice would you have liked me to remember?" she asked, her back still to him.

Robin thought of the warning he had meant to give and then looked at the evidence of her control and shook his head, "Nevermind..."

Raven finally turned to look at him over her shoulder and raised a brow while beyond her, the plates continued their dance.

Robin smiled wryly, "Turns out, it was a false analogy."

Her eyes flicked over his shoulder before turning away again, "Is this the last of them?" she asked as she once again sent dancing dishes into their spots in the cupboards, and recently dried dishes to dance in their place.

Robin turned to the drying rack to find there were no more dishes waiting to be dried and he blinked. Had they already done all the dishes? He reached into the sudsy water in the sink and released the stopper, washing it out. "That's it," he confirmed.

"Alright," she said, sending the last of the floating dishes into the cupboards, leaving only two mugs to float and settle on the counter next to them. She turned to Robin, "Coffee?"

Robin smiled at her and set about prepping the coffee maker. Tip off number four: she wanted to drink coffee. She was _definitely_ in a playful mood.


	3. WITCH

**A/N**: See SideStory #1 for full Notes and explanation.

Based on **_Kysra_**'s sketch to be found here: www . deviantart . com / deviation / 33685488 / (remove spaces) -- Please remember to drop her a note and make her feel wonderful for having done this amazing thing for me? If you can't get the link to work (even removing the spaces) then just go to my emsscraps or go straight to Kysra's deviantart page. Just have kysra . deviantart . com (without spaces) or, just go to my profile page here and you'll find links to both my deviantart page and my emsscraps journal. But people, don't give up! Look at this picture! It's so worth it. Well, any of her stuff is worth it, but if you haven't seen the picture there might be nuances to what I wrote that you won't get.

_**It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 3 (From Part VIII)  
**__**WITCH  
**__**by Em**_

"_...the witch ones..."_

It was a glowing testament, not only to her trust in him, but also to the amount of ease she felt in his presence that Raven did not come out of meditation as soon as he walked into the gym.

Granted, he was known for his ability for silent approaches and their friends were...considerably _not_...so perhaps it had less to do with her level of comfort around him and more to do with the fact he didn't go around banging into things or making noise which might disrupt her trance.

Although, he had to admit that the fact that she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt that proclaimed, "WITCH" across her breasts and an old fashioned wooden broom flying diagonally across (something he knew that Raven might just an hour of Beast Boy's jokes to being seen in) might suggest a third alternative:

Perhaps she was just so deeply involved in her meditation that she didn't notice him at all.


	4. BadAss

**A/N**: See SideStory #1 for full Notes and explanation.

Based on **_Kysra_**'s sketch to be found here: www . deviantart . com / deviation / 33685488 / (remove spaces) -- Please remember to drop her a note and make her feel wonderful for having done this amazing thing for me? If you can't get the link to work (even removing the spaces) then just go to my emsscraps or go straight to Kysra's deviantart page. Just have kysra . deviantart . com (without spaces) or, just go to my profile page here and you'll find links to both my deviantart page and my emsscraps journal. But people, don't give up! Look at this picture! It's so worth it. Well, any of her stuff is worth it, but if you haven't seen the picture there might be nuances to what I wrote that you won't get.

_**It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 4 (From Part VIII)  
**__**BadAss  
**__**by Em**_

"_...the ones with the little devils..."_

Robin really wasn't a pervert. Really. Anybody who had ever met him could attest to that. He was excruciatingly kind and gentle _and_ gentlemanly in the face of Starfire's attentions. He didn't salivate over the cheerleaders on _any_ team while they watched football and he _always_ turned his head politely away whenever some flighty fan exposed her breasts for his perusal. Not to mention that he had, quite valiantly, not only refrained from staring at her after her birthday fiasco, but had also refused to think of Raven's lack of clothing at any later time.

All in all, he was a pretty decent kind of guy.

It wasn't that he didn't like girls; he did. But he had been taught to respect them. It was one thing to tease his friends of the female persuasion and it was quite another to drool over a bit of exposed flesh like some old man on Viagra.

He knew that both girls on his team were very attractive with rather nice physical attributes, but he refrained, out of respect for them, from staring at said assets as if he were nothing more than a hormonal schoolboy.

That wasn't to say that he didn't _glance_...

There was no disrespect in merely glancing at the assets when they were in his view, afterall.

But there _was_ a limit. He was a heterosexual male in the prime of his sexual youth, so really, who could blame him for staring when the object in question very readily available to be stared at?

And even though the little red devil riding the very center of the back of the black pajama pants seemed to mock his lack of restraint, he couldn't quite stop himself from enjoying the view.

The words printed below the devil served only to draw his attention to the softly rounded mounds of flesh they covered and he barely registered that the red bold letters actually spelled out 'BadAss' or that, apparently, the pants were part of a Halloween themed outfit and that everyone else in the Tower was teasing Raven for having lost the bet that got her into them in the first place.

Nope. He didn't notice any of it. He barely even registered the fact that the outfit's top was cropped just above her bellybutton and that quite an expanse of smooth pale skin showed just above the waistband of the pants.

He didn't even notice that Raven was also holding a plastic devil pitchfork in her hand until Raven turned around to face him and she had it resting lightly against his knee.

Robin mentally shook himself and gazed first at the pitchfork, then slowly raised his gaze until he met her eyes.

Her expression was one of quiet acceptance, "Well?" she asked, raising a brow.

"Well, what?" he asked, doing an admirable job of keeping his sight on her eyes and not on her exposed bellybutton.

"Don't you have anything to say about my outfit?" she asked.

"I...?" he just barely refrained from stammering.

She sighed, "Bumble Bee says I can't go change until I've given everyone a chance to make a comment or two about my outfit and you're the only one left," she explained with forced patience.

Robin blinked, "It's..." he thought of several adequate adjectives, but finally settled on one he wouldn't blush while saying, "...cute." 'See?' Robin thought to himself proudly, 'I really am not a pervert!'

Their friends groaned in disappointment behind them. "Jeeze, Rob, you're no fun!" Bumble Bee exclaimed somewhere to their left.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy chimed in, "The point is to make her embarrassed, duh!"

But when Robin looked back at her after having offered their friends an apologetic smile, it was to find that Raven's cheeks were just slightly tinged pink.

"Shoulda known Robin would take the high road," Speedy said somewhere behind her.

"Well," Raven finally said, clearing her throat and lifting the pitchfork to her neck. She turned around and Robin internally groaned as his sight was immediately and automatically drawn back to the BadAss label on her backside.

"Now, if everyone's done staring at my ass," Raven said, pausing to give everyone a chance to add on a bit more ribbing, "Then I'm going to go change," she finished, offering Robin only a slight glance over her shoulder before turning and walking out of the common room and toward the living quarters.

Well, he wasn't a pervert, Robin realized as he watched her walk away, but who would've guessed he was an ass man?

_Xxxxxxxxxx_

**A/N:** Definitely a LOT more fun to write than pretty much any of the others. And as I said when I posted this on LJ, I blame the focus of this one _entirely_ on **_Kysra_**. (look at the part of the drawing about the Devil Pjs and you'll see why...)

Oh, and on LJ, **_LadyNephthys_** and I have gone off a bit on what the bet _might_ have been that got her in this predicament...I'm not going to c/p all that onto here, so if you're interested in seeing it, check out the original post and read the comments to it.


	5. Blue Satin

**Special Note:** I got _another_ flamer! (my first for this sidestories series, but like my third or fourth overall?) This one was actually kinda angry sounding (go figure!) but I think my popularity in the Teen Titan fandom must be growing if more and more Starfire/Robin fans are feeling threatened by my fics. ((pause)) YEY! I'm popular enough to be hated by the other kids! ((jumps around and parties))

In all seriousness, people: If you don't agree with someone I write, then sign in with your account and leave me an intelligent review with any of your valid complaints. I'll address them, I'll write you back and I don't hate because you don't agree with the way I envision something, but if all you hate is the pairing, then why read it? I don't like Terra pairings but you don't see me going and hating on people who write them. I mean, that's ridiculous, and it really adds too much hate to your karma. Too much negativity in your aura, dudes...let it go. Be one with the Buddha...float like the river. Accept others. Even if you don't enjoy the stories, don't read them, but don't bash for no other reason than because you hate them. (I had someone write me once that they liked my stories, but they wished to see what I did with a Starfire/Robin pairing and I felt honored by this review.) I feel very sad when people hate for no reason than because of a pairing choice. Honestly, I feel that's equatable to someone hating just because you're white or black or asian or because you're homosexual.

STOP THE MINDLESS HATE!

**A/N**: See SideStory #1 for full Notes and explanation.

Based on **_Kysra_**'s sketch to be found here: www . deviantart . com / deviation / 33685488 / (remove spaces) -- Please remember to drop her a note and make her feel wonderful for having done this amazing thing for me? If you can't get the link to work (even removing the spaces) then just go to my emsscraps or go straight to Kysra's deviantart page. Just have kysra . deviantart . com (without spaces) or, just go to my profile page here and you'll find links to both my deviantart page and my emsscraps journal. But people, don't give up! Look at this picture! It's so worth it. Well, any of her stuff is worth it, but if you haven't seen the picture there might be nuances to what I wrote that you won't get.

_**It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 5 (From Part VIII)  
**__**Blue Satin Pjs  
**__**by Em**_

"_...the dark blue satin ones..."_

It hadn't been the worst idea Star had ever had. Nor, notably, was it the best. Robin could actually understand why the alien would want to experience as much of Earth culture as she could and it was quite logical that she try and experience that with her friends and teammates.

So, really, that she ask them all to have a pajama party shouldn't have come as quite the surprise as it did.

It was only a matter of time that she started watching the high school kid flicks anyway.

And just because they agreed to it, didn't mean they had to like it, Robin mused as he sighed. He gave the pot of mashed potatoes another half-hearted mash.

"Perhaps someone should have explained to Starfire how you don't serve regular food at pajama parties?" Raven's monotone inquired.

Robin turned to the source of the voice and nearly dropped the masher at the sight of her. "Raven!" he exclaimed before he could help it.

She stopped pulling the plates out of the cupboard and glanced at him, eyebrow raised. "What?" she asked.

"You're here!" he replied intelligently. "And wearing..." he looked down at the somewhat familiar dark blue satin of her pajama set, "...pajamas!"

She raised the other brow, "Was I not invited?" she asked.

"No-yes!" he hurriedly contradicted himself. "It's just..."

Raven finished lowering the stack of plates, "I know," she interrupted, helping him to remove the foot he had so easily planted in his mouth, "I couldn't say no to her," she answered. She met his eyes and her expression was one of careful awe, "She was so excited about it, I just couldn't."

Robin smiled at her, "Yeah," he looked down at his own shorts and muscle t-shirt, "I know."

Raven extended a plate to him, "But really...shouldn't we talk to her about the food?"

Robin took the plate and looked at her, smiling, "It could've been worse."

She didn't need him to remind her exactly how much worse it could've been. They all knew and were excrutiatingly familiar with Starfire's thoughts on what made for adequate consumption. Raven barely refrained from making a face, "True," she watched him scoop up the mashed potatoes and gravy onto a plate from the pans on the stove. "Still, I would've preferred s'mores."

Robin grinned at her and held out his hand for another plate, "Mmmm," he confirmed, "Marshmallow-chocolaty goodness."

She looked at him in surprise, "You do not like s'mores."

He chuckled, "I never said I did," he argued, "I said I liked marshmallow and chocolate." He prepared another plate and grinned at her as he took the next one she offered, "It's the graham cracker I don't like."

She took two of the plates he had prepared and shook her head, "Blasphemer," she said seriously, walking out of the kitchen and taking the plates with her.

He watched her go in amusement.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**A/N:**: This is, admittedly, the BIGGEST piece of Crack!Fic I think I have ever written. (Yes, Kysra, I think this is even more Crack!Fic-like than the Edna fic, believe it or not.) I just really don't know what I think about the possibility of the thing that is going on ever really happening, but what the hell, right? ((shrug))

So, agree with me? Disagree with me?


	6. Terriers

**A/N**: See SideStory #1 for full Notes and explanation.

Based on **_Kysra_**'s sketch to be found here: www . deviantart . com / deviation / 33685488 / (remove spaces) -- Please remember to drop her a note and make her feel wonderful for having done this amazing thing for me? If you can't get the link to work (even removing the spaces) then just go to my emsscraps or go straight to Kysra's deviantart page. Just have kysra . deviantart . com (without spaces) or, just go to my profile page here and you'll find links to both my deviantart page and my emsscraps journal. But people, don't give up! Look at this picture! It's so worth it. Well, any of her stuff is worth it, but if you haven't seen the picture there might be nuances to what I wrote that you won't get.

_**It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 6 (From Part VIII)  
**__**Scottish Terriers  
**__**by Em**_

"_For ever action, there is a re-action...and a Pikey reaction... is quite a fucking thing."  
_- Turkish, "Snatch"

"_...the ones with the Scottish Terriers on them with the big red bows..."_

Seeing emotion, any emotion, on Raven's face was scary enough in its own right.

Raven's anger, even the smallest amount of it, was something any smart person avoided like hot cols, Star's puddings, and sharp projectiles flying in their general direction.

"IcanfixitIcanfixitICANFIXIIIIIT!"

Raven's anger while she was wearing gray flannel pajamas with pictures of itty bitty Scottish Terriers snarling was scary as shit.

Beast Boy, being the focus of her wrath, did the smartest thing he could think of to do in his panic: he ran.

Raven this angry was certainly nothing to laugh about, but one look at the big red bows at the neck and at the front tie of her pants and Robin was hard pressed not to explode in outright guffaws. It didn't help that the shirt proclaimed her as "Rabid", which she certainly was if the look of death riding her expression was any indication. If Beast Boy didn't fix whatever it was he had broken, Robin had no doubt Raven might start to foam at the mouth at any moment.

Raven floated the few feet from the elevator across the common room, ignoring everyone else that wasn't Beast Boy.

Beast Boy tried changing into various cute and cuddly characters, but when her expression only darkened (granted, after he made the mistake of turning into a rabbit), he eeped and ran to hide behind Cyborg.

Robin was infinitely glad he hadn't been on that side of the room.

"Don'tkillmepleaseIdidn'tmeantoISWEAR!" Beast Boy exclaimed, nigh on tears.

"How could you possibly NOT..." she inhaled in an effort to keep her voice from rising into anything more than her normal tone, "...mean to?"

"IcanFIXIT!"

Raven shook her head, "No, I don't think you can," she said calmly, starting to stalk toward him, "Cyborg, get out of the way."

Cyborg moved just a small inch, but Beast Boy changed into an octopus and wrapped all 8 tentacles around him, holding tight.

"Justlemmeexplain,PLEEEEEEEASSEEEEE!" Beast Boy pleaded.

"Raven," Robin spoke softly. It held no rebuke, no demand, no order, just a reminder that he was present. But it was all she needed to know what he wanted.

Raven stopped and looked at him over her shoulder, waiting for him to say his peace.

"What did he do?" Robin asked, looking from Raven to Beast Boy and back again.

Raven raised her left hand and showed him her how the glass of her antique hand mirror was cracked irreparably, "This is what he did," Raven said. "Can I kill him now?"

Robin looked at Beast Boy, his expression disbelieving. How could Beast Boy have broken her meditation mirror? Beast Boy was careless sometimes, but he wasn't stupid enough to do something like that. He sighed, "At least hear him out," Robin said reasonably. "You can kill him later."

Beast Boy's burgeoning look of hope at Robin speaking up for him fell harder than a sack of potatoes.

Raven nodded minutely at him before turning to Beast Boy, "Okay," she said calmly, "You have two seconds before I go Trigon on your ass."

"Two...?" Beast Boy started to whine, but Raven cut him off, taking a menacing step toward him.

"One..." she started counting.

"Iwantedtoborrowoneofyourbooks,butIdidn'tthinkyou'dlendittomesoIsnuckinandbumpedyourtablebyaccident..." he let out in a hurried gush of air.

"So not only did you enter my room without my permission, but you were going to take something from within it without telling me?" she asked, her tone deceptively quiet and controlled.

Beast Boy wasn't fooled. He didn't know how to get out of it, so he looked pleadingly at Robin. "Help!" he squeaked.

Robin shook his head, "Sorry, Beast Boy, you know better than to sneak into anyone's room," he said.

"Can I kill him now?" Raven asked.

"How were you planning on fixing it?" Robin asked.

"I thought I'd take it to the mirror maker in town," Beast Boy said sorrowfully. "How was I to know you'd get back earlier than planned?"

"And would you have this mirror maker weave the magic spells into the quicksilver and mercury that I had in this glass you so casually broke?" Raven pressed.

"I...uh...do..." Beast Boy stuttered. Raven began to advance on him again.

"What book were you looking for Beast Boy?" Cyborg finally asked calmly, trying as best he could to ignore the tightness of his friend's hands grasping at his arms and neck.

Raven stopped.

Beast Boy thought frantically, but it took him a moment to remember the title he had been searching for in the haze of his panic, "That book we found when we were decorating the White Room with all the things that looked like recipes," Beast Boy answered, too flustered to remember what the title of the book actually was, despite the fact he had memorized it at the time.

Robin looked at Raven who had gone completely still, "Why?" he asked.

Beast Boy seemed to realize that Raven's temper was no longer right on the surface of her eyes anymore, that she was staring at him in emotionless expectancy. "I thought if they were recipes, I could do one..." he mumbled, half under his breath.

"Why?" Raven asked.

Beast Boy flushed down to his toes, "Next week's your birthday," he said simply. He looked around and when no one seemed to understand the significance of Raven's birthday to him looking for recipes, he let his gaze fall onto his feet, "...wanted to know...favorite...cook...birthday..." he mumbled so low Robin only managed to catch a handful of words from which he was nonetheless able to stitch together a coherent sentence of Beast Boy's intent.

Without a word, Raven turned and walked out of the room.

Robin was so stunned at Beast Boy's motives to be in Raven's room that he didn't register the fact that Raven's pajama pants had little Scottish Terriers all over them until much later.

As in after Beast Boy slid off of Cyborg's back and after Cyborg had pushed a controller into Beast Boy's hands in the hopes of distracting his friend from his near death escape, but certainly before a large, leather bound tome came falling through the roof to land right at Beast Boy's feet.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**A/N:** Okay, so this came out...weird. Robin's just kind of a bystander in this one, isn't he?


	7. Butterfly

**Note:** Now you guys on FFN are all caught up with what I've posted on 'emsscraps', so no more new side story ever day. Now, you guys'll have to wait until I write the next one just like the people on 'emsscraps'. Although there will be five more of them, they're just not written yet.

**A/N**: See SideStory #1 for full Notes and explanation.

Based on **_Kysra_**'s sketch to be found here: www . deviantart . com / deviation / 33685488 / (remove spaces) -- Please remember to drop her a note and make her feel wonderful for having done this amazing thing for me? If you can't get the link to work (even removing the spaces) then just go to my emsscraps or go straight to Kysra's deviantart page. Just have kysra . deviantart . com (without spaces) or, just go to my profile page here and you'll find links to both my deviantart page and my emsscraps journal. But people, don't give up! Look at this picture! It's so worth it. Well, any of her stuff is worth it, but if you haven't seen the picture there might be nuances to what I wrote that you won't get.

_**It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 7 (From Part VIII)  
**__**Butterfly  
**__**by Em**_

"_...the ones with the butterflies on them..."_

"Seriously," Beast Boy insisted, "I think there's gotta be something that still's not all together right..." he trailed off when Robin gave him _that_ look. The look that said Robin thought he was being ridiculous or overreacting. Beast Boy frowned, "Just come look, will you?" he asked, frustrated.

"Beast Boy," Robin started and Beast Boy rolled his eyes at his tone of voice. "Causing the end of the world and then bringing it back is bound to leave her a little changed."

"No," Beast Boy insisted. "This is beyond just a little, this is I mean..." he trailed off, "Sure, she hugged you and that was different..."

"And she didn't kill you when you hugged her..." Cyborg pointed out helpfully from the couch.

Beast Boy glared at him too, "And she didn't kill me when I hugged her," he conceded, "But this goes beyond that," he motioned wildly with his hands. "I mean...just look, will you?"

Robin sighed and looked at Cyborg who put away his car magazine to stand, "Well, I don't know about you, but my interest is piqued," Cyborg said, walking toward the elevator.

Robin set aside his files and followed.

What they found was almost beyond imagining.

On the roof, in a patch of sunlight breaking through the clouds that had overcast the sky for most of the morning, Raven stood: arms outstretched and face lifted as if drinking in the sun.

And sure, the position was strange in its openness, the soft cotton pajama pants with the multi-colored butterflies print was strange in its colorfulness, and the spaghetti strap tank top with the green and red butterfly splayed across the chest was disconcerting in the way it hugged her body and showed off alarming amounts of flesh, but nothing was stranger than the look of utter bliss etched on Raven's usually somber features. Her eyes were closed as if in peaceful enjoyment, her lips gently curved in the sweetest of smiles.

She looked, Robin thought, rather like a butterfly herself, who had just come out of a cocoon.

Robin didn't bother to turn to see the looks on his friends faces, he was too enthralled by watching her sway gently with the breeze. "How long has she been like this?" he asked on a whisper.

"A fourth of an hour," Starfire answered, suddenly next to him.

Robin glanced at the alien who he had not been aware was on the roof as well. "What happened?" he asked.

Starfire grinned brilliantly at him, "This is her Happy emotion," she told him simply. "She is experimenting with releasing them for short bursts of time while in deep meditation," Starfire answered. "I am here to...how did she put it?" she searched for the term, "Play the Guard?" she tried.

"She's been doing this for how long?" Cyborg asked.

Starfire looked at him, "Today is the first attempt," she informed them. "She decided to do so three days ago, the day after the almost end of the world." Starfire glanced at Raven, "Does she not look beautiful?" she asked joyfully.

"She looks peaceful," Cyborg answered, awed.

"Yeah," Beast Boy added, "The Happy we met was totally hyperactive."

Cyborg nodded, "That's true, she looks almost subdued as far as Happy went."

"She does not allow them complete freedom," Starfire explained. "She said she is wary of the reactions if she were to do so."

"Well, what dangerous reaction can Happy have?" Cyborg asked, amused, "Skip around the Tower for a bit?"

Starfire blinked at him, "Not the reaction of her emotions," Starfire corrected. When the others looked at her in confusion, she motioned to all of them, "The reactions of all of us."

"Oh," Beast Boy breathed, blushing.

Cyborg sighed.

And Robin...

Well, he took an involuntary step toward her, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Are you sure this is Happy?" he asked quietly.

"Why do you ask?" Starfire wondered.

"Because it looks more like Hope to me," Robin answered.

"Maybe it is both," Starfire mused.

_'...you're actually the most hopeful person I've ever met...'(1)_

Robin nodded. "Yes, maybe you're right."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**A/N:** So this one was HARD. I went through like three different reasons why she'd look the way she does in the picture and this was the best one I could come up with. I don't really like the characterization in this, I don't like that Raven doesn't really say anything, I don't like the ending...let's face it, I just don't like it, but I have a feeling it's the best I'm going to do.

Can everyone tell how badly I write Starfire? ((shakes head)) Gawd, I suck at it.

Obviously, the event mentioned here is a reference to "The End I-III".

(1) Direct quote from The End – Part III


	8. Purple Plaid

(See SideStory #1 for full Notes and explanation)

Based on **_Kysra_**'s sketch to be found here: http / www . deviantart . com / deviation / 33685488 / -- **_Kysra's Puppies, Penguins, and Bunnies_**

_**It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 8 (From Part VIII)  
**__**Purple Plaid  
**__**by Em**_

"_...and the purple plaid ones..."_

She hadn't cut her hair. That was the very first thing he noticed about her when she opened her door that night.

It was a strange thing to notice, especially after they had just managed to save the world from certain doom...

...again.

Still, the lustrous strands of purple wisping about her face and hanging down her back and brushing against her bare shoulder was the first thing that drew his attention as she stood at her door, waiting for him to explain why he had sought her out. Maybe it was partly because her hair was almost the same exact color of the plaid on her pajamas and _that_ was what made him take notice of it, but he didn't particularly think so.

He was honest enough with himself to know that it was the fact that he had always loved the look of Raven when her hair was long. It wasn't that he didn't think she looked feminine with her short hair, but rather than she looked approachable. Better yet, more easily approachable, for she had never really been unapproachable...at least, not to him.

He could still remember the feel of her hair against the backs of his hands from the last time it had grown out. Of course, at the time, he had been preoccupied with other things, such as Slade's sudden reappearance and Raven's own near brush with death. Her birthday had been quite a busy time. But afterwards, he had thought about it and he could admit, at least to himself, that the brief brush of her hair against his skin had haunted him.

He had told himself that there were a dozen other reasons for those feelings, and to some extent, he had convinced himself of those reasons, convinced himself that it was only shock or surprise.

The truth of the matter was, however, something much more simple and base:

He wanted to touch it. He wanted to know if it was as soft as he remembered or if he had made of his brief touch, an altered memory.

So, when months later, after an exhausting defeat of her father and the would be conquerer of their world, he was faced with her long strands of purple, he nearly groaned before he could stop himself.

He hadn't realized he had left his room still wearing his robe until he noticed her eyes scan his appearance as if trying to figure out from it (since he was being so vocally evasive) what his purpose at her door might be, and he suddenly remembered his mission.

"Cyborg's making breakfast," he blurted, "They asked me to call you."

And if his words came out direct and point blank, it was only the result of a mix of humiliation at his appearance, shock at hers, and strain from the effort of _not_ reaching out to let his fingers curl in her hair.

Raven, however, obviously mistook the reasons for when he turned around and started to walk away (again, in an effort to keep her from seeing the blush and chagrin on his features), Raven stepped out of her room and halted him with two words:

"I'm sorry."

Confused more than shocked and shocked beyond comprehension, Robin turned on his heel, "For what?" he asked, certain only in retrospect that the question had come out way sharper than he had intended it.

She lowered her head and her hair rushed forward to hide her face from him, but he could see from the way she held her hands in front of her that she was dealing with some embarrassment issues of her own, "For everything," she said softly. She looked up at him and quickly away, over his shoulder, down the empty hall. "But especially for knocking you out when I left with Slade," she nearly whispered. "And for spurning your efforts at protecting me," she continued, "I just couldn't bear to sit safe in a room knowing you all were fighting a loosing battle for something that I thought was inevitable..."

He stopped her from continuing by placing a hand on her shoulder, but when all he found was the warm flesh bared by the dropping neckline of her pajama top, he drew it away quickly, and looked away to hide his flush, "I..." he looked back at her, "...we all understand why you did what you did, Raven," he assured her. "There's nothing for you to apologize for."

They stared at each other for awhile in silence, each trying to read the other's face for sincerity and understanding. He knew she didn't exactly accept all he had just told her, but she would, with time. So, she let him read his face and hoped she could see how much he trusted her and how glad he was to have her back. When she looked away from him, he took that as his cue to escape to his room where he could take off the undignified robe and hope to forget he had ever walked out of his room with it on. He took three steps down the hall before her hand touched his elbow and the soft, brief touch stilled him more surely than if someone had nailed his feet to the floor.

He turned to his left and found her staring out into the empty hallway again, as if she couldn't look at him as she spoke, despite the fact she had stepped up next to him to say what she had to say.

"And I'm sorry..." she cleared her throat and when she spoke again, her voice was clearer, but not any more certain, "...for..." she took a deep breath, "...suddenly hugging you like that," she finished, exhaling.

He looked at her for a moment and finally, after what seemed like forever, she turned to meet his eyes, "You're sorry for hugging me?" he asked, as if he wanted to be sure he had heard her correctly.

"I shouldn't have imposed on you like that," she said by way of answer. "I don't like it when..."

She stopped when his hand gently pushed a few strands away from her face. "You're sorry that you hugged me?" he asked, his tone softer, the beginnings of a smile around the edges of his lips.

She met his gaze as one would facing a gallows, "Yes."

He did smile then, full-out, because he had seen the look in her eyes when she answered and had read there how she wasn't sorry that she had hugged him at all, only sorry that she had done something out of character and possibly offended him. "Well..." he reached out and lifted the soft fabric of her pjs so that it covered her shoulder and let his fingers linger for just a moment inside the silk of the hair at her nape. Her eyes looked at his hand as if she weren't quite certain what he was about to do, and when his hand pulled away and she met his eyes again, he smiled even wider, "...I'm not," he said simply. He shrugged and walked away.

"If you don't show up for Cy's breakfast, he'll never forgive you," he reminded her over his shoulder.

He didn't turn back, but he heard it when a few moments later, her door opened and closed again just as he turned the corner toward his own room.

He just barely resisted the urge to whistle as he walked.

Her hair _was_ as soft as he remembered.

_xxxxxxxxxxxx_

**Notes:** Obviously, the two specific instances I make reference to here are from the episodes _Birthmark_ and _The End (I, II, & III)_ respectively.

**A/N:** I need to take a moment to do some promoting, bear with me, folks, kay?

1. **_Absentia_** has done something wonderful. She's taken some vignettes she's written and said she was inspired to doing them by my _It Only Takes A Moment_ and she has written them and she has posted them on and she has titled them http / www . fanfiction . net / s / 2986069 / 1 / **_Between Moments: It Only Takes A Moment Tribute_**. I am most honored by her having done this, and I need to pimp the hell out of it so that people will go and tell her how wonderful she is for doing this and paying me this GREAT compliment. People, trust me: it behooves you to click on the little link here and read her stuff. And I don't just mean her Tribute to Moments. I mean anything she's written. Really. I mean it. And I don't just say that because she's my "Brainclone" (in my better moments...) She's really very good, and if enough people prod and ask her for updates to her stories, she might just write more! (Since her muse is a fae just like my Puck, I know that he'll probably get to inspiring the more people ask him for more!)

2. I put up a poll where you can vote for your favorite **_Moment_**. I know I put up one before, but I think that one expired or something, because I can't access it anymore. So, I signed up for the ad supported lj so that I could make a poll through lj directly. So, go on, go and vote: http / emsscraps . livejournal . com / 17975 . html Last time I did it, "Looking at You" was winning, but now it seems most people "cannot chose". ((shrug)) Go figure.

Okay, I guess that's it. The next one of these will be up relatively quickly, because it's already written. I just need to self-beta it.


	9. Red Satin

**A/N:** I'm actually kinda proud of this one.

**Disclaimer:** Wouldn't it be great if we really could claim adverse possession of ideas? In that sense, I might have a pretty good claim on Teen Titans since I'm using them more than Cartoon Network is right now. But other than the cold day in hell when that theory might work in court, I will NEVER own them and I won't make money off of 'em.

Based on **_Kysra's_** sketch to be found here: http / www . deviantart . com / deviation / 33685488 /

_**It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 9 (From Part VIII)  
**__**Red Satin Pjs  
**__**by Em**_

"_...oh, and the other satin ones in the dark red..."_

Raven looked up as the rumpled trio shuffled into the circle of light before the couch where she was curled up. "What are you three doing up so late?" Raven asked, her tone low yet stern.

"Couldn't sleep," Timmy answered, sleepily rubbing at his eyes with the hand still holding onto his tattered blankie.

Raven withheld a smile as Teether tottered closer to her and ended up tumbling on the floor. "Well, you seemed to be doing a fine job of it before," Raven pointed out, watching as Melvin automatically picked Teether up and set him on his feet before he could begin to cry.

Melvin turned to her with a sleepy kind of honesty in her big eyes, "Yeah, but..." she looked at the others who were all looking at her expectantly for her to explain their situation, "You were there, then," she said.

"Your woom's scawy when you're not there," Timmy announced. Raven allowed herself a small smile.

"Yes, I suppose it is," Raven conceded.

"Waven," Timmy said, shuffling closer to her, "Watcha doing?" he asked, his thumb going into his mouth automatically.

Raven looked down at her lap and the worn brown cover of the book she had picked up to read, "Reading," she answered softly.

Timmy brightened as much as he could while still being half asleep, "Will you tell us a stowy, Waven?" he asked.

"Stowy," Teether seemed to agree, extending his arms out and grasping with his tiny hands at the air, "Up!' he said.

Raven turned to Melvin who picked up Teether and approached the couch, settling down on Raven's left side without any further invitation.

Teether crawled out of Melvin's hold and into Raven's lap where he settled against her side and looked up at her with a sleepy smile on his face.

Raven smiled at him and then looked at Timmy who was about to cry, "Come on, Timmy...up on the couch with you too..."

Timmy's tantrum stopped before it could start and he hurriedly shuffled his feet until he could climb onto the couch on Raven's right side.

"What are you reading, Raven?" Melvin asked, stifling a yawn.

"Peter Pan," Raven answered, glancing at the book only momentarily. It was actually quite a miracle she had decided to pick up this old favorite rather than one of her less child-friendly books. "You've heard of Peter Pan, haven't you?" she asked.

"Uh-huh..." Timmy answered around a yawn.

"I like Peter Pan," Melvin answered, leaning in against Raven's arm so that Raven had to lift her arm to allow the girl to settle in against her side before bringing the arm down around Melvin.

"So do I," Raven confessed. She looked at Teether, but he was already dozing off, rhythmically sucking on his pacifier. "Is it alright if I start at the part where Peter and Wendy first meet rather than at the beginning?" Raven asked, looking back to Melvin and Timmy.

"Sure," Melvin said, blinking up at her, very slowly.

Timmy yawned again, "Beginning's bowing, anyway," he conceded. Raven watched him for a few moments as he teetered and she adjusted her leg so that when he fell he had her thigh to cushion his head against, which he very promptly did.

"Alright then," Raven opened the book and began to read at the appropriate part, "Peter has just tried unsuccessfully to stick his shadow onto his feet with soap in the Darling Nursery," she told the children.

Melvin scoffed as she rubbed at her eyes, "Everyone knows soap doesn't work on shadows," she commented.

Raven smiled, but no one saw her. "And woke Wendy up by crying," she finished her summary. She looked at them and realized they wouldn't be paying too much attention to her reading, but she read anyway. So, in her best reading aloud voice, Raven began to read: _"What's your name?" the boy asked. 'Wendy Moira Angela Darling,' she replied with some satisfaction, 'What is your name?'"_ She looked down to see only Melvin's eyes still making any attempt at remaining open, _"Peter Pan."_ she continued reading, _"She was already sure that he must be Peter, but it did seem a comparatively short name. 'Is that all?' 'Yes,' he said rather sharply. He felt for the first time that it was a shortish name. 'I'm so sorry,' said Wendy Moira Angela." _

Some time later, Raven looked down and found that even Melvin's eyes had closed and hadn't re-opened, but she kept reading just the same her only concession to their sleeping forms to lower her voice to an even softer tone. And the last thing she remembered before she too drifted off to sleep, was the part where the children are carried off by pirates.

It was quite a picture they made, Robin thought when he found them some time later. He couldn't help but stare. It was like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting and nevermind that Raven looked even younger in peaceful sleep than she did while awake or that her hair, where it fell in soft wisps against her pale cheeks was the purple of a ripe plum.

Robin silently crept closer and wished he could take a picture. The eldest girl of the three was laying in the cradle of Raven's left arm, her head resting against Raven's shoulder. The older boy was stretched out across the sofa with his head resting on her lap and the baby was soundly cuddled against her chest. And Raven in her dark red satin pajamas was in the center like a beacon of motherly protectiveness, her own cheek resting against the top of the girl's blond head and her eyes closed in peaceful slumber while the book she had obviously been reading from lay forgotten at her side.

Something inside Robin twisted almost painfully as he realized how much like a family they really looked. He had known the kids (the Munchkin Maulers as Raven had taken to calling them) had grown attached to her and he had of course known of their presence during that last fight with the Brotherhood of Evil and it wasn't really a surprise to find they were sticking to Raven's side. After all, it was only the night after the battle. They were all exhausted and Raven had agreed to take them back to their sanctuary in the morning rather than that very night and that in itself should have told Robin all he needed to know of Raven's own attachment to them. But it wasn't until he saw them all curled up and sleeping together that he realized how far into Raven's defenses she had let these children get.

The realization both touched and saddened him. Here was a Raven that he knew she would never allow herself to be. He knew she would make a fantastic mother, he knew that without even thinking about it, and yet, he also knew she'd never let herself be one.

Before he could think any more on the subject however, Raven's eyelids fluttered and in that graceful, casual way she had, Raven was awake and staring right at him.

"Got your hands full, I see," Robin commented, smiling.

"They couldn't sleep in my room by themselves," Raven whispered over their heads.

Robin chuckled, "I believe it," he agreed. She frowned at him and it only made him smile wider, "So, who's who here?" he asked, approaching her.

She nodded toward the sleeping boy on her lap, "That's Timmy," she said and for a split second, she made a face, "Apparently, he drools..." she deadpanned. Robin snickered. She lifted her left hand to rest on the girl's blond head of hair, "This is Melvin," she said, "And this..." she gently jiggled the baby who cooed and snuggled closer, "Is Teether."

"They did pretty good for kids," Robin praised, sitting on the edge of the coffee table in front of her.

Raven nodded, "You should have seen them against Mallah the time I met them."

Robin smiled and seemed to be looking for something in the picture before him, but before she could question him, he stood. "How about some tea?" he asked.

She nodded and as he walked to the kitchen, she began the process of gently disentangling herself from the children. When she succeeded with only a slight amount of squirming from Timmy which eased as soon as she tucked his blanket around him, she made sure that Teether was safely blocked from sofa edges by pillows and walked to join Robin in the kitchen. "What are you doing up?" she asked softly sitting on the counter and watching him set a kettle to boil.

"Just wired, I guess," he answered as he went for her tea things. "I thought I'd sneak some of your tea to help me sleep."

She was going to start to point to the chamomile tea but he reached for it before she could. "So I guess you got everyone settled in someplace for the night?" she asked. Everyone, of course, being all the honorary Titans who had to spend the night at their Tower because they couldn't make their way home after such an exhausting battle.

He nodded, "Yeah," he thought for a few moments, "The Titans East all went home while Argent and Jinx are bunking with Star, Pantha wanted to stay in the training room, Herald went...um..._home_, I guess. Kole and Gnarkk are sleeping in the trees outside, Hot Spot's with me, Wildebeast is outside, Red Star and Jerricho are crashing with Cyborg and Kid Flash is in Beast Boy's room." He thought about it for a few moments, leaning on the counter in front of her, "And anyone else I forgot to mention went home," he said, shaking his head.

Raven almost smiled, "Kid Flash with Beast Boy?" Raven asked, shaking her head, "I should say I feel sorry for him," she said sympathetically, "But I can't help but be glad he's the one with Beast Boy."

"Why would you be glad?" Robin asked handing her her cup with tea.

"Wally's a neat freak," she said stirring in the sugar. "He'll have Beast Boy's room clean and organized by morning."

"Wally?" Robin prodded, raising a brow.

Raven looked at him in surprise at his question, "You know, Kid Flash," she said. "You did know that was his name, right?"

Robin nodded, "Yeah..." he waited a few moments, "But why do you?"

She shrugged and sipped at her tea, "He also happens to be a blabbermouth."

Robin sipped his tea and thought of how to ask her how she knew so much about Kid Flash when he hadn't even though they had met for more than a brief few moments, but before he could, she stiffened and looked behind her where Melvin was squirming and rubbing at her eyes. Raven stood and walked back to the couch.

Melvin looked up at her, "Did you finish the story?" she asked her voice thick with sleep.

"Almost," Raven told her softly, leaning down to pick up Teether. "But it's time to go to bed now," she said. Melvin nodded and moved in what Raven could only assume was meant to be an attempt to sit up from the couch, but even when she finally did sit up, she only managed to rest her chin on her chest and continue sleeping. Raven shook her head and put a hand on Melvin's shoulder, shaking her gently. "Melvin, come on, you have to help me a little," she told her.

Melvin's eyes fluttered open and she sighed. "Too sleepy...I can sleep here."

"No you don't," Raven took hold of her shoulder and shook her a little again, "Come on, climb on up here," she told her. Finally, after a bit of work, Raven had Teether on one arm and Melvin on the other. The girl was so thin and light, it didn't feel like hardly any work, but she looked down at Timmy who was still sleeping unconcernedly and she knew she didn't have enough arms to carry him too.

She had just about decided to come back for him when Robin stood next to her and scooped Timmy into his arms easily. Raven glanced at him in surprise and he shrugged as Timmy's arms automatically adjusted around his neck in the trusting way only kids could ever really do, without once opening his eyes.

"I figured you could use some help," Robin spoke on a whisper.

Raven smiled at him but before she could speak, Melvin opened her eyes and looked right at Robin.

"You're Robin," she said.

Robin smiled, "And you're Melvin," he countered.

She smiled and blushed and Raven thought that she had just been witness to the beginning of Melvin's first little girl crush. Despite the obvious crush, however, Melvin still frowned and asked, "What are you doing with Timmy?"

Raven was quite proud of her just then.

"I thought I'd walk you to your room," Robin explained.

"Oh," Melvin said, closing her eyes, "Okay."

As Raven turned away and started walking to the elevator that would lead to the Tower's residential area and her room, Melvin snuggled closer to her shoulder and sighed, "He's dreamy," close to Raven's ear.

Raven didn't quite know what to say about that so she let Melvin drift back to sleep rather than make any sort of comment. Surely, Melvin was too young to think any guy was 'dreamy' wasn't she? She wasn't quite sure, but she certainly wasn't about to look back at Robin to find out what he thought of it, even though she could hear his chuckles as he followed her to her room.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**A/N:** The whole, "he's dreamy" comment of Melvin's was inspired by **_MsLessa's_** own little darlings. She made an off-hand comment to me the other day about one of her kids saying such a thing and it just struck me and I couldn't help but have Melvin use it here. Now you know why it might seem familiar to you, Lessa!

**Extra Disclaimer:** What Raven reads to them is **_Peter Pan_** by J.M. Barie.

**Personal Plea:**

(1) Everyone, can we please share the love with **_Kysra_**? She's such a fabulous friend having done all those wonderful sketches to cheer me up, and not nearly enough people have commented to let her know how wonderful they think they are. (And I know you guys love 'em!) So, come on...if you have a dA account, then take a moment and drop her a line there, if you don't have a dA account, then tell her through here or through one of her own posts how appreciated and what a great artist she is.

(2) I plugged **_Absentia_**'s story, _Between Moments_ (which you can find under story id: **_2986069_**) last time. I hope you guys are showing her the love through her ff.n profile?

And, finally, the **_Moment Poll_** ( http / emsscraps . livejournal . com / 17975 . html ) Remember to vote for your favorite! I'd love to hear from you guys why it's your favorite, too.


	10. Foamy

(See SideStory #1 for full Notes and explanation)

**A/N:** Eh, I'm back to feeling this is crap. But it was the second attempt, so...((shrug)) I actually kinda like Star in this, but I'm back to having no purpose for it.

**Disclaimer:** No claim to ownership, no money made, still poor as a rodent that looks like a portal to enter rooms by (Sorry...still stuck in Star!Speak...) (I don't own Foamy either.)

Based on **_Kysra_**'s sketch to be found here: http / www . deviantart . com / deviation / 33685488 / (Remove spaces)

_**It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 10 (From Part VIII)  
**__**Foamy  
**__**by Em**_

_"...and the ones with that "Foamy" Squirrel on them..."_

"He is cute like the auditory canal of an insect!"

Raven paused for a moment while her brain went through her Starfire Speak translation process. 'Auditory Canal of an insect?' she thought. 'Ear of an insect,' she partially translated. 'Cute as the ear of an insect?' she tried. She shook her head, giving up and sighed. "Foamy is not cute, Star," she told her, walking passed her to the kitchen.

Star followed her. "Foamy(1) is more than cute," Star enthused, "He is as cute as the discs that holds clothing closed!"

Raven glanced down at her t-shirt and wondered what part of gray cartoon squirrel depicted in full lotus on the blue, purple and black background might be considered cute. "What about him is cute, Star?" she wondered. "There's nothing cute about him."

Starfire cocked her head to the side as she looked at Raven's shirt, "He is amusing with his big round eyes and misshapen body and he is master of zen, as well!"

Raven knew she wasn't going to convince Starfire that something she had decided was cute wasn't. But she felt a certain responsibility to help her get her ideas straight. "This is not cute," she said, motioning to her tee-shirt. "It is a sarcastic statement on life and on my own attitude." She pulled the shirt away from her body and motioned the writing along the left bottom edge, "You see what it says?"

Starfire nodded, "I have mastered the zen of anger," she read aloud. She grinned at Raven, "Congratulations!"

Raven sighed. "Thank you," she said calmly. "But it's not cute."

"But he is cute, Raven," Starfire insisted.

Raven took a calming breath and tried to say it slowly. "Foamy is not cute, Star" she insisted. "He's a psychotic rodent."

Starfire grinned brilliantly, "Psychotic is good, yes?"

Raven thought about saying 'no' but stopped herself. "It can be, I suppose," she answered honestly. "Depends on who you ask, I gather, but it's not cute."

Robin entered the room and paused when he noticed both girls stare at him. "What?" he asked.

"Robin," Raven said, as if something had suddenly occurred to her, "Would you care to explain to Starfire why Foamy the Squirrel is not _cute_?"

Robin blinked. "Huh?" he asked, looking from Raven to Starfire and back again. "I just came in for some water."

"Is the psychotic rodent on Raven's tee-shirt not cute?" Starfire asked.

Robin looked at the tee-shirt in question and laughed at the picture of Foamy on it. He now realized exactly what the conversation must have been like. He also noticed the frustration on Raven's expression. "Yeah, Star," Robin agreed, grinning unapologetically at Raven, "It's cute as a bug's ear," he said somewhat sarcastically.

Raven seemed about to argue for a moment before she stopped and slapped her hand on her thigh with a loud whack. Robin and Starfire jumped and Raven looked back at them incredibly amused (which for her meant a slight smile on her lips).

"Cute like the auditory canal of an insect," Raven figured out.

Robin frowned. "Huh?" he repeated.

"Exactly!" Starfire agreed.

"I'll come back for the water," Robin decided, walking back the way he came.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**Notes:**

(1) See http / www . illwillpress . com / vault . html (remove spaces) for the flash movies featuring Foamy.

(2) See http / emsscraps . livejournal . com / 22923 . html (remove spaces) for a picture of the T-Shirt Raven's wearing.

**A/N:** Thank you everyone for listening to my plea from last time. I hope you continue to do so!

Also, if you haven't voted in the **_Moment Poll : _**http / emsscraps . livejournal . com / 17975 . html (remove spaces), what are you waiting for?


	11. Monopoly

**A/N:** This one was fun.

**Disclaimer:** Anyone out there actually think I could make money off this stuff?

Based on **_Kysra's_** sketch http / www . deviantart . com / deviation / 33685488 /

_**It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 11 (From Part VIII)  
**__**Games  
**__**by Em**_

_"...and the one with the Monopoly pieces all over them..."_

"That's cheating, you realize."

Robin looked up from his contemplation of the board to meet Raven's cool expression. "What's cheating?" he asked, showing his hands, "I haven't done anything."

She sighed with all the patience of a goldfish. "You're wearing your mask," she pointed out, crossing her arms under her chest so that the monopoly pieces depicted on her cotton top became very prominent as they were thrust forward.

He drew his eyes up to meet her eyes and chuckled, "How is my wearing the mask cheating?" he asked.

"It gives you an advantage...I can't read you with your mask on," she explained simply.

"Bull," he said bluntly. "First of all," he leaned back, "You don't need to be able to read my expressions to play chess, you know it's only about your reactions to my moves on the board and second of all," he continued before she could hope to counter his first point, "You don't need to see my eyes to read me, and you know that too."

Raven's open mouth closed with a snap as she re-thought her plan of attack. She leaned back against the foot of the sofa, her arms still crossed under her chest and Robin's attention was once again drawn to her colorful and whimsical pajama top and the prominence of certain pieces displayed. He couldn't help but stare at the picture of the shoe piece which was displayed right at where her...

Raven cleared her throat and his eyes shot back up to hers.

"Plus, talk about distraction tactics," he motioned her reclining position and looked back pointedly at the board. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Raven straighten and lower her arms to rest on her lap. He smirked. "Interesting Pjs, by the way," he said casually.

"Shut up and make your move," she said seriously.

He bit back a smile and tried to contemplate the board for his next move, but couldn't help but make one final comment, "If you want to see my eyes that badly, though..." he trailed off purposefully and looked up at her to see her reaction.

Her eyes were on the board and her expression was pensive and determined, "Move or forfeit, Blunder Boy," she said apparently unperturbed.

He chuckled and moved his chess piece all that closer to her. Playing Chess with Raven was always so much more interesting than with Bruce or Cyborg.

And her choice of clothing was only half the reason.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**A/N:** I've got nuthin' to say to this one. Hope you enjoy. One more left.

Also, if you haven't voted in the **_Moment Poll_** http / emsscraps . livejournal . com / 17975 . html , what are you waiting for?


	12. Lace Trim

(See SideStory #1 for full Notes and explanation)

**A/N:** This one kinda blindsided me. I don't have much of an opinion for it. It feels like Raven's kinda OOC, but Kysra's drawing does show her already pissed, so just assume she tried starting out calm and collected.

**Disclaimer**: Anyone out there actually think I could make money off this stuff?

Based on **_Kysra_**'s sketch to be found here: www . deviantart . com / deviation / 33685488 /

_**It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 12 (From Part VIII)  
**__**Lace Trim  
**__**by Em**_

"_...and the ones with the red lace along the bottom and around the neckline..."_

He should've known it was a bad day to get out of bed that morning.

He should've remembered that the whole of Titans Tower had only one working bathroom as of yesterday afternoon when Beast Boy broke the boy's bathroom after accidentally transforming into a Beluga whale in a moment of what he thought was inspiration.

The rest of them had called it stupid.

But only after they had managed to stop the busted pipes from squirting water all over the bathroom. Certainly they didn't think about anything except stopping the overflowing water from spreading too far into the hallway.

Eventually, after much chaos and screaming and explaining to Starfire that no, they did not decide to make the western half of the Tower into an indoor water park, when dripping and out of breath, they had managed to stop the water flow, they had called Beast Boy every name in the book. (In several languages)

As it was, the plumber, electrician (yes, _electrician_) and construction workers wouldn't be making it to the Tower until another two days since it wasn't an emergency. Cyborg could get the plumbing to stop inundating the Western half of the Tower, but despite being a mechanical genius, he couldn't fix plumbing.

He could maybe build them a bathroom from scratch..._maybe_.

In any case, Robin knew that they only had one working bathroom and he knew that it was the girls' bathroom.

He should've known it would be best to stay in his room until way passed noon that morning. After all, the rush for the bathroom the night before had not been pretty...the morning rush couldn't possibly be any better.

He knew that.

Still...

"Hurry UP, Beast BOY!" Raven raged, smacking her fist back into the door for emphasis. "You've been in there for twenty minutes!"

If he knew he would have seen Raven in the light pink soft, velour with the dainty red lace trimming the bottom of her spaghetti strapped camisole and along the neckline...the _low_ neckline, he wouldn't have gotten out of...

He watched her eyes flash with anger and rethought.

"You can't hurry perfection!" Beast Boy called from beyond the door.

"Don't make me go in there!" she threatened, a vein popping tellingly on her forehead.

"Would ya?" Beast Boy teased amusedly.

"You make me look at your scrawny naked ass and I'll do more than take you out of that bathroom by force, Beast Boy, I'll kill you!" she warned.

"Sorry, Raven, can't hear you," Beast Boy said, turning on the water.

_'Who'm I kidding?'_ Robin thought to himself, hiding a grin, _'I would've hated myself for missing this!'_

Raven growled wordlessly and smacked the door again. The act drawing his attention to the way the dainty looking sleep camisole rode up exposing a bit of abs every time she did that.

That was about the time she caught sight of Robin's approach down the hall. "Get him out of there before I'm forced to..."

"Good morning, Raven," Robin interrupted.

Raven grit her teeth and exhaled, forcefully calming herself down at the calm in his own voice. "Good morning," she said, only a bit of her cool back in her voice.

"Beast Boy," Robin called through the door. "You have another 10 minutes before I open the door whether you're ready or not and I have my camera ready."

"Another ten minutes?" Beast Boy asked tentatively.

"That's right," Robin said, ignoring Raven's fiery glare.

"Booyah!" Beast Boy exclaimed happily.

Robin turned to Raven and smiled lopsidedly at her, "Come on, Raven, I'll make you tea."

Raven exhaled and pushed away from the door, automatically pulling a strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you," she told him and started down the hallway.

"My pleasure," Robin intoned, trying not to smile outright.

"But if he's not out of there in ten minutes, I _will_ transport him into the shower at Archam Asylum," she said calmly.

Robin choked on a laugh. When she didn't appear amused, he sobered and stopped just shy of the kitchen. "Wait...you're serious?"

She stopped at his side and glanced at him calmly and unapologetically, "I really need a shower."

_'Mental note,'_ Robin thought as he followed her into the kitchen, _'Never get between Raven and her shower..._'

He watched her for a moment as she started to set out the makings for tea. _'But if she has any more pajamas like that one...'_ he couldn't help thinking.

"Aren't you supposed to be making me tea?" she asked, stopping suddenly.

Robin snapped back form his less than honorable thoughts and hurried to take the tea kettle out of her hands, "One cup of white tea coming up," he saluted her with her free hand and motioned to the stool at the counter.

Robin glanced at the clock as he approached the stove, but before he could even register the time on the digital display, Raven spoke up calmly from behind him.

"Seven minutes."

Robin shook his head and went about preparing her tea. If she at least had some tea in her system she might be less likely to send him into Archam's shower...

Another planet, _maybe_.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**A/N:** _**THIS IS THE END OF THE PAJAMA SERIES!**_ WOOHOO! ((dances about))

See emsscraps . livejournal . com / 23852 . html to be heard on whether or not I should continue to write Sidestories...

Vote in the **_Moment Poll:_** emsscraps . livejournal . com / 17975 .html! What are you waiting for?

And...well..._that's all she wrote_...

Thanks for being along for the ride, guys! You've been fabulous!


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